I had my eye on this last night, but I was hoping whoever was doing the intro for the year would not pick this song, because to me, it was a big departure from where this band had been. Thank you Rob, for picking something else. ;-)
This song has the distinction of being the last song drummer Bill Berry ever helped compose as a member of R.E.M.
In the book R.E.M.: Fiction, guitarist Peter Buck described how this track came to life:
“The intro is just me and Bill backstage. Nobody else was around and Bill said, “I’ve got an idea for a song, play these chords.” I got this weird sound from the little practice keyboard we had in the dressing room, then he played the melody on acoustic guitar, and that’s exactly what’s on the record. That’s a great song—it seems to be a dark horse favorite of a lot of people.”
Unbeknownst to the rest of the band, this iconic and departure from the norm became Bill Berry’s farewell song to his comrades. It was as if Bill had ironically and literally lived out Stipe’s fated lyrics. By the time it came to record R.E.M.’s 1999 Up, the fabulous foursome from Athens, GA were no more.
Rock evolution took a bit of a jump from where R.E.M. had been when I remember first hearing the segue from the into on this song to where it was going on New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
"Leave" - R.E.M.
That's what keeps me, that's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, believe it
Leave it all behind
